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Poetry
Randy Blasing's ninth book of poems, set now in memory in his native Minnesota and now in New England, New Mexico, or Turkey, centers on his drama of dying four times in open-heart surgery and emerging from his near-death experience a different person, with renewed faith in the sanctity of every day.
"A Change of Heart, with its nod to Auden, is a mature collection celebratory of life. The speaker who cheats death is that much more aware of the living, breathing world around him. Heightened meditations are rendered in tender, explosive sonnets and exact blank verse. Here is the heart as muscle and life force, as vehicle for romance, as the beating meter of each of these glorious poems." --Denise Duhamel
"James Wright famously aspired to write poetry that privileged, above all, 'the pure, clear word.'
Randy Blasing seeks the same demanding goal in this fluent and moving collection of sonnets and near-sonnets, poems limpid, graceful, and fearless in their reckonings with mortality, in which craft and longing are alchemized into something like wonder." --David Wojahn
Randy Blasing's ninth book of poems, set now in memory in his native Minnesota and now in New England, New Mexico, or Turkey, centers on his drama of dying four times in open-heart surgery and emerging from his near-death experience a different person, with renewed faith in the sanctity of every day.
In A User's Guide to Spacetime, the human desire to be immortal is a recurrent theme. Thus, in "Techwed," as the carrier of life, the astronaut "dons an algorithm like a vest, / Assembles the hybrid," and then "hears the wheels of Infinity grind." In "Siblings of the Sun," he is "Born in the unconscious," and, in "Pseudosphere," he is "in Ge's breath-body based." Significantly, even in "Herald," although the Hermetic lapis, "the figure [of Christ] veiled in matter," exists "in some other place [. . .] / Light years from Earth," the astronaut himself remains immortal because he is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. For that reason, in "Compass," he may "Restore the Rebis"--the "dual being born of the alchemical union of opposites" (masculine/feminine) and recognized as "a symbol of the self"--and may "Beyond the compass of the symbol rise." In other words, as these poems demonstrate, "Faith-based the astronaut pursues his course" ("Station"). However, they also suggest that, when the treasure is hard to attain, there is always "more to be sought than the scripture".
In A User's Guide to Spacetime, the human desire to be immortal is a recurrent theme. Thus, in "Techwed," as the carrier of life, the astronaut "dons an algorithm like a vest, / Assembles the hybrid," and then "hears the wheels of Infinity grind." In "Siblings of the Sun," he is "Born in the unconscious," and, in "Pseudosphere," he is "in Ge's breath-body based." Significantly, even in "Herald," although the Hermetic lapis, "the figure [of Christ] veiled in matter," exists "in some other place [. . .] / Light years from Earth," the astronaut himself remains immortal because he is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. For that reason, in "Compass," he may "Restore the Rebis"--the "dual being born of the alchemical union of opposites" (masculine/feminine) and recognized as "a symbol of the self"--and may "Beyond the compass of the symbol rise." In other words, as these poems demonstrate, "Faith-based the astronaut pursues his course" ("Station"). However, they also suggest that, when the treasure is hard to attain, there is always "more to be sought than the scripture".
"The person pulled paper cash from the briefcase while spitting more words into D.C. Cat's face and pushing Cat's shoulders and fighting paws into the case, which was scratched by Cat's claws."
Like some of the other poems in AMAZING HOLIDAY PAWS, "Political Scratches from D.C.'s Dreaming Cat on National Cat Day" includes an animal's point of view: "Atop other tables stood people and cats; their noses shifted round while sniffing for rats." D.C. Cat-while homeless, dreaming, and wanting change-has a name; Cat interacts with people who have no names.
Many animal views are visible in AMAZING HOLIDAY PAWS. The different viewpoints include ferrets on New Year's Day, a groundhog's view of climate change, a cat adopting a cat, a spy dog in Washington D.C.'s International Spy Museum, bees working on Labor Day, pets receiving gifts, and pets being gifts.
In some of the poems, people do have viewpoints and names. Many interactions between animals and people also happen. For example, in the poem "Gifts of Pets on a Birthday," a dog and a cat are presented as gifts to twin children. The parents show their children how to integrate the pets with each other and with their new environment.
AMAZING HOLIDAY PAWS has rhythms, rhymes, alliteration, metaphors, animal pictures, and photos taken in Washington, D.C. This book has maze poems, prayer poems, sonnets, narratives, and content about holidays, animals, and United States history. "Rainbows on Veterans Day" refers to Sergeant Stubby, and "An American Dream on Washington's Birthday" references George Washington's animals.
It's 1936, and the Yankees have just hired a star center fielder whose name sounds like music. What could be a better time for Papa-Angelo's grandson to be born? Christened after the legendary ballplayer, young Joseph Paul learns much at his Italian grandfather's knee - about holding your breath in front of the radio during a 3-2 count with the bases loaded and having the audacity to dream big dreams. After all, the boy's ne'er-do-well father is out of the picture, and it is Papa-Angelo's job to teach his grandson what it means to be a hero.
In a poignant novel told in verse, Maria Testa paints a picture of a timeless bond between a grandson and his immigrant grandfather - and of finding his own place in a brave new world.
